balter
by Sleeping Rabbit
Summary: "In every timeline, in every universe, Tony, you always did … that." "Did what? Trapped you in an awkward dance and forced you to confess?"


He didn't really remember how and why,

"C' mon, Doc," but, the next thing happened to him was Tony Stark, " – I know you like me."

It was supposed to be another gathering. Avengers gathering. A celebration after defeating Thanos, an innocent party with a splash of champagne, yet, there they were, in the middle of the dancing floor. The rest of the team were either too sleepy or suffered from the food coma, and it wasn't Tony if he missed a chance to—

"You're assuming," Stephen Strange retorted.

The display of hologram created by the party host's wristwatch distracted him. The Iron Man made his AI played a slow song and an instrumental spun around them. The light softly dimmed, illuminated Tony's beautiful facial features; his sharp jaw, his pointy nose, and those eyes – those honey, caramel-colored eyes. And so, whatever his plan was, it worked, the ambiance captured the wizard's not only attention but also his desire. Stephen softly placed a hand, his scarred hand, on Tony's waist. The other, free one, gripped the futurist's hand. Tightly. _Gently_. Almost could he feel his heartbeat – _their_ heartbeats – plummeting against his chest. Closer than any voices, closer than his breath. Stephen nearly punch his own face, because—

"I have proofs,"

His voice sounded _too_ real.

Stephen suddenly wasn't capable to tell which one is which – _did someone just trap me in the mirror dimension? _He silently got a grip on himself. Tony was real. He was real. This was the reality he deserved.

"Such as?" a smile, the bright one.

Tony softly transferred his weight to the sorcerer's sturdy torso, which the younger one gladly complied, "First of all, the suit you're wearing is a total dope," he complimented Stephen's choice in attire with a grimace on his face, "You clearly want to impress someone and by 'someone', I mean me," Tony smirked as he saw Stephen awkwardly intended to avert his eyes, "You stood at the same exact point, you drink, you didn't ask anybody for a dance – which is a huge waste of your well-tailored tux – but you didn't reject _my_ dance," he lowered his voice, winking, "Not to mention that you're staring at my ass the whole night."

"Your artificial intelligence informed you that?" Stephen asked, carefully adjusting his clumsy movement and synchronizing it with Tony's, which was unquestionably more advance.

"Fri recorded it for me. Do you want to watch yourself eyeing me?"

"You're spying on me first, Stark," said the time-keeper, "The real question is _why_ I wonder?"

"Mm, my bodyguard considered you as a threat," Tony gestured him to take a good look at Happy Hogan, who obviously wasn't happy with Stephen's attendance, "He thought you might want to assassinate me."

Stephen snorted, "Killing you would be the last thing on my list."

"But still on the list."

"Barely – sometimes, you could be extremely troublesome."

"Said a guy who needs alcohol to finally get the balls to see me in the eyes," Tony mocked, "Seriously Doc, how many shots did you drink before I save you from a massive hangover?"

"Not even close to making me tipsy, Tony – now, could you please stop squishing my feet?"

"I did it on purpose, actually. Besides, I'm a full-time defender, not a professional dancer."

"You look totally defenseless, now."

"And what is the reason behind me dropping my guard this low, do you think?"

"Because you're an arrogant billionaire surrounded by dozens of self-thinking armors?"

Tony laughed, "Because I feel _safe_, asshole."

The laugh was contagious. Stephen, too, let out a relieved chuckle.

But it didn't last that long,

As they continued to sway and spin, the music twirled and washed away the gravity, the lights twinkled and reflected the best of Tony as he could ever be. Stephen took a deep look at those delicate eyes. From this close, intimate range, he traced the details of his dance partner's face, every curve, every line, everything was all about Tony. _His_ Tony, if he might – if he had a chance to declare it. Tony let out a small grunt when he felt the soft pressure of Stephen's palm on the back of his waist. Their steps followed the harmony of piano and violin. The saxophone was the last instrument that came to his ears – and those melodies were totally replaced by the soft sound of them breathing, beating; _living._

"You know," Tony broke the silence as Stephen tightened the grip on his fingers, perfectly fulfilled him in no one else couldn't, "If you're waiting for the right _time_ those sacred words, Stephen, this is it," he inhaled the muted fume resembled woods from Stephen's neck, brought him to ecstasy, "So I could just say 'yes, me too', and we could live happily ever after,"

"This is not a fairy tale, Tony," the gap between their face vanished as Stephen pressed their foreheads together, leaving no blank space for the mechanic to escape, "There's no such place for you and me."

"At least we're eternal in the superhero books," he bantered.

"Besides, rather than a damsel in distress, the image of kicking-ass Avenger suits you more."

"I'd prefer to grope some asses, to be honest."

Stephen cracked a smile, "Tony, I'm – _afraid_," there was a quite long pause between sentences and Tony didn't flinch a bit. The guardian of Sanctum spoke in an unusually heavy, conflicted voice, and it concerned his comrade, "Relationship, commitment, to be _with_ someone is a few things I considered as my flaw, things I'm … not capable of. I _might_ hurt you. I _might_ be your biggest failure."

"You're being that sure, are you planning to hurt me from the beginning?"

"Trust me, I might want to kill you one day, but hurting you?" Stephen shook his head.

Tony tilted his head, "So why are you so sure about this hurting-thing? Did you use your ancient relic to foresee _my_ future?"

"I have this past of mine," Stephen huffed, "Hurting someone else should be in my curriculum vitae."

"To be fair, if I list how many times I break someone else's heart, I will make a decent portfolio," they both giggled at their confessions, "And, I don't know how you portray a relationship, Doc, but me, too, don't fancy cute things, so you can throw away the idea of surprising me with a romantic candlelight dinner or bring me a giant plush toy."

"If a relationship works that way, I practically could exceed it with a single snap."

"You could never hurt me," said Tony in a small voice, almost whispered, "Perhaps, killing me would be easier, and I'm one hundred percent sure you'll execute me painlessly."

"Guess what's harder for you," Stephen pushed Tony's forehead, "Your hunger to be the center of attention; we could never be seen like this again in public – _I _can't, as the Sorcerer Supreme," he closed his eyes, the old days of him flashed before his eyes. The Galas, the charity parties, caviar, and wine.

"I heard you used to be a popularity-freak."

"Sometimes, I miss that kind of life," he admitted, "But have you thought the ugly outcome if the press catches you hugging me like this? You wouldn't want to destroy your reputation for being with someone like me."

"You possessed two academic degrees and a cute beard, Sweetie, so if you don't mind, please define 'someone like you', because you just humiliated my taste in finding a partner."

"Tony,"

The billionaire sighed, "If you told me that there is no other way, I swear I'll make Fri putting my newest MARK-50 on you, fly your magical ass the fuck out of here and blow you up outside the atmosphere."

" – I love you."

At those words, Tony froze.

Stephen's hand on his waist trembled. It was slightly shaking at the first place, but this time, Tony could feel it through his clothes. The other one, which fingers were entwining with his, also shivered, to the point if he didn't know this man was confessing, Tony would immediately call the emergency unit.

Tony could sense the overwhelming emotion inside his stomach. Crawled up to his chest. Suffocated him in a bizarre yet familiar way; the way Stephen conducted their dance was simply mesmerizing.

He was close. _Too close._

"…that's not what I'm expecting."

"What do you expect from a man who had seen you for fourteen million times?" Stephen opened his eyes, finding a blurred version of his man, but he could clearly visualize the defender's expression, "In every timeline, in every universe, Tony, our path crossed each other – and you always did … that."

"Did what?" Tony frowned, "Did this? Trapped you in an awkward dance and forced you to confess?"

"In a hurried way to die."

Tony pulled away – yet, Stephen still managed to keep the closeness between them.

"To countlessly watched you and your self-destructive actions, Tony, it haunted me – and I had a tiny margin, almost zero chance to save you, to stop you from destroying yourself, to prevent the harms you have to encounter; you're just _that_ stubborn, I should reward myself for being able to fight by your suicidal side, and," Stephen exhaled, tried his best to control his suddenly raised voice, to suppress his human side, his emotions, "...this time, this night, _us_, is a blessing for me, and I'm afraid I might screw this very moment – I even didn't want to use the time stone to know where this may lead us."

"To happiness, I assume?" Tony lightly banged his forehead against Stephen's hard one – and, _God, _the height gap made him tiptoeing that he almost lost his balance, "Committed to me is a burden?"

"Witnessing your death, _fourteen millions times_, is what I consider a burden," Stephen brushed Tony's forehead using the tip of his nose, smelling the faint scent of spices he acknowledged as his ally's favorite perfume, "And it was a shame; because as a Sorcerer Supreme, the death of others is supposed to be a common thing, I should never take it personally – even my own was, _were_ painful, but yours, Tony," he shuddered, as if he was the one who experienced the excruciating pain, "...listening you your heart rate slowly faded away was the most terrifying moment that could ever happen to me."

Tony suddenly lost his verbosity,

What he expected was a simple 'I-like-you' and now he just watched Stephen showing him his greatest fear, his nightmare, his vulnerability. And what the Sorcerer was afraid of the most was all about losing him.

That was too much, even for the world's greatest defender.

"If _this_ isn't love, Tony," Stephen sighed, deeply, then created a space between their face; far enough for them to inspect the other's eyes, but close enough to steal a kiss, "... then, I have no idea."

"Wow,"

Tony was startled, mystified, excited; too many emotions mixed up in his head all at once and he had zero clues whether there was an exact term for things he currently felt. He looked down for a second. The fact that he just listened to the most powerful confession left him speechless and lightheaded,

"...can you read mind, Stephen?"

"That would be outside of my expertise," the sorcerer stated, "Why?"

"Because you might hear the wedding bells ringing in my head; I want to skip the nonsense dates and marriage proposal," Tony said it firmly, "I want to drag your ass straight to the altar and declare a vow to be with you until death do us apart."

Stephen's light-blue eyes widened, "Are you saying that you love me back?"

"Uh – I've told you to say it first for a reason; I kind of allergic to romantic stuff, you know, but instead, you told me that…" Tony shrugged coldly, but his eyes tenderly gazed, "...you're afraid to lose me."

"And you're afraid of rejection," Stephen responded with a teasing stare, "That's cheating, Tony."

"Go get yourself a mirror, Wizard, you're the ultimate cheater, here," Tony's eyes slightly went gloomy, "How could I catch up with those fourteen million moments you've already discovered?"

"We can start slow," his voice was lighter, now, "We have plenty of time for that."

"Can we start with a kiss?" Tony joyously requested.

"We literally have the whole team, underage kids, and fully-functioned security cameras aimed at me – should I mention the SHIELD members, too?"

Tony grinned, an obvious mischievous smirk, before leaning in for a light kiss on Stephen's lips,

" – that's exactly why."

They molt each other with every touch – and tonight, _just_ tonight, quietly in Stephen's arms, with the defender's head rested on the sorcerer's chest, Tony let himself believe in the touch of magic.


End file.
